


The Lizard and the Pearl

by MotherWoof



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dragons, F/M, I Want To Strangle Him, Miraculous Ladybug AU, Sea Dragons, ovaries: i want that one, over grown lizards are annoying, sea cows can try to be a little nicer, what even is singing?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23728246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotherWoof/pseuds/MotherWoof
Summary: This is a birthday gift inspired by Quickspinner's DragonFish lukanette coupleIt's that time of the century, where a certain sea dragon needs to nest and lay her eggs.Her original hatching lagoon is the perfect place... except someone else has apparently moved in, and is making the entire process more difficult than it needs to be.
Relationships: Anarka Couffaine/Jagged Stone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	The Lizard and the Pearl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quickspinner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quickspinner/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Across All Realms](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23072878) by [Quickspinner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quickspinner/pseuds/Quickspinner). 



The shift in the currents were enough to let her know that she was entering her old waters. It had been a few decades since she had migrated south and swum the waters of the Southern Seas. But it was time to return now.    
  
Anarka had been travelling to her destination for some weeks, and though it had taken longer than she had expected, she  _ knew  _ she was going in the right direction, her internal compass was never wrong. Except as she was nearing the waters she thought would lead her to the lagoon, a loud raucous sound steadily becoming louder as she neared, had her headdress fins rattling with irritation. The deep undercurrent within the warbling wasn’t terrible, but the remainder was offensive to her sensors.    
  
As she neared the island housing the lagoon, the sound grew, as did her irritation. There was no way that she would be able to attract a male and nest in peace with noise like that. She skimmed the surface on the far side of the island, trying to figure out what the source was, so she could be rid of it, before it abruptly stopped.    
  
The loud booming of wings and roar screeching through the air vibrated through the waters, and she rose her head above the sea.    
  
_ LandLubber _ , she snarled to herself.    
  
A large black form dropped onto the sandy beach nearest her. Sunlight glittered over dark scales that shone like purple stones, accompanied with a shaggy mass of chest hair puffed out with importance. His neck was longer than most dragons of the land she had seen, but he was  _ still _ a dry cow. His wings were tucked in tight to his body as he hopped about angrily on the sand, roaring at her to begone. She snarled back, her call siren like in pitch, causing him to shake his own head in irritation.    
  
_ How about that, ye dirty lizard! _ she smirked to herself. But immediately she flailed back in shock, as his tail swept large swaths of sand out at her, coating her scales and sticking to her slime coat. It was offensive in all the ways that mattered. She could already feel the itch and irritation. 

Dipping her head beneath the water, she inhaled deep gulps of the sea until it filled her bellows. Raising her head above the waters, headdress flaring angrily, she let loose with her water cannon. At such close range the force bowled him over, sending him awkwardly flailing along the beach, gathering sand in the matted wet fur on his sides and elbows. When the male had stopped floundering, and lifted a leg to twist and inspect himself, he turned to her affronted. She hissed out, long lean neck vibrating with the sound. The dragon huffed, a small puff of smoke escaping his nostrils, before he galloped off and leapt into the sky, flying off towards a cave high up on the cliffs.    
  
Satisfied, Anarka made her way to the other side of the island, where the lagoon entrance was situated. The sand bar that had helped keep the waters calm, was eroded more than she preferred, and it was a task she would have to take on soon-- to prepare. But until then, she needed to patrol and investigate the rest of the nearby waters, to make sure nothing  _ else _ was going to get in the way. 

The caterwauling started the next day.

He hadn’t left.

She could hear the raucous noise even below the waves. Vibrato wild without a hint of rhythm. Loud and in your proverbial snout. Her outer lids snapped closed heavily, and she paused against the massive heap of sand she was pushing beneath the surface. 

At this rate he wasn’t just going to prevent her own song from getting out to males, but also cause her to go insane.   
  
Flapping her long fin wings to propel her towards the surface, she broke the water with a headshake and- splaying her thin limbs to maintain her position. Inhaling the sea air until she was sure to burst- she let loose the loudest warning screech she could muster. The intensity far louder and piercing than anything she would produce beneath the waves. The air distorting her own song into something almost foreign.    
  
She waited until the last of her warning died off, the water quietly lapping at her neck.    
  
Only silence returned.    
  
Satisfied she dipped beneath the surface again and returned to hauling sand to the entrance of the lagoon. 

The water rocked around Anarka gently, her body intertwined around the vast fields of vibrant coral, swaying in the current. Shrimp skittered around her face, cleaning meticulously, aand fish hovered near to her wings. She opened her maw to let the cleaners in to do their job, more than happy to relax and be cared for. 

A hectic frenzy skittered across the sensors in her snout, and sent her outer lids snapping open. A school of fish were darting away above her head, into deeper waters. Something they normally wouldn’t do. Another tingle and more fish scurried by. Shifting her body, allowing her limbs to twist and adjust, her entourage dispelling in the movement, she rose closer to the surface.

Then it hit her.

A loud thunderous boom. 

Her body jolted against the force of it, even below the waves. Her tail slashed with irritation as another tidal force washed over her, larger than the last.

There was no way she was going to be able to relax and mate like this. He needed to  _ go _ .

She took the shorter route to the other side of the island, skimming the surface every so often, to create as much of a disturbance as possible on her way. When she arrived at the cliffside she eyed the rocks with distaste and waited to see if he would announce his annoying presence to the world again. Anarka didn’t have to wait long.    
  
The males dark form leapt from the jagged crack of a cave, snapping his wings out to keep him aloft, before flying out over the sea. She could see his chest filling, before he let out a bellow, the sound terribly loud and disorientating up close. But it wasn’t his call that had her pausing from blasting him out of the sky.    
  
It was the striking golden yellow of his wings. The membranes were practically glowing between the long dark spines. It was like seeing the striking beauty of a school of tang… but in the sky. A painting of colorful anemones. The  _ land-loving scaled lump _ , scales darker than any dragon of the sea, with wings of gold…  _ blasphemous _ .   
  
On the males return to the cliff, she raised her head above the water and sprayed him. The jet of water glanced off of his wing tip, sending him into a mess of trying to level off, before smashing into the rocks. When he managed to glide out and maneuver his body to soar sideways, he snapped his eyes towards her. Immediately finding her still protruding form. He grumbled deeply, the vibration trembling through the air. Her headdress rose in answer, splayed out in warning. She rattled her wings at the surface of the water so that it disturbed small droplets into the air, causing them to splatter and ripple down, pattering against the surface. 

He circled back to his cave, clinging to the edge of the rock when he landed. But instead of moving inside, he scrabbled and gouged the cliff side with his powerful hind legs, sending large chunks of rock into the sea near her. Anarka splashed her tail out at him, slapping the surface, before diving deep into the water.

She needed to hunt. Sink her teeth into something and  _ thrash _ . That’s what she needed. 

It took another week or so for the sandbank to be built up to a height she felt comfortable with. High enough to prevent massive cold currents or large waves, low enough that sea life could still move from lagoon to ocean. Though, she had built it too high for herself to be able to swim back and forth without destroying it completely. It required her to leap from the sea and dive back down into the deep blue pool. She didn’t enjoy leaping from the water as much as some of her kind, but the all-of-a-sudden feeling being  _ heavy _ , was intriguing. Getting to feel the weight of her body in full. 

It felt rebellious to fly. 

To be made of the sea and conquer the air.    
  
She’d never actually seen any of her kind truly leap full bodied from the water, but had heard enough mentioned in her travels, on how it was done. How gathering speed was one way, but power was equally useful without the distance necessary. She used her wings as she launched from the water, surging into the air, before tucking them in tightly and twisting the full length of her body as she soared over the lagoon entrance.    
  
The sound of a barked roar startled her as she went to dive back into the water. Her fins flared and her head yanked to the side at the last moment, causing her to crash unceremoniously into the sea. She surfaced aggressively, looking for the culprit, only to find him a few lengths away on a rocky outcropping. 

His wings were fluttering somewhat excitedly, front claws grasped into the ground to keep him from buzzing off of it. His neck weaved up and down, before another set of barked sounds filled the air. He seemed ready to jump down to the edge of the water, eager to see her leap again. 

But that was enough leaping for the day. Enough embarrassment. She inhaled some water, before squirting it at his face. The dark dragon spluttered, arm raised to prevent another onslaught, as she squirted him again. Once his chest hair was thoroughly soaked, he seemed to gather that she was in no mood for his shenanigans and he moved on, wings flashing her brightly as he retreated. Anarka huffed in satisfaction before dipping beneath the surface to continue thoroughly exploring the basin. 

She began her song on the night of the new moon. Calling out beneath the waves, letting the current carry her serenade out into the deeps. It would take some time before her call was answered, she knew, so she kept her song short.    
  
The time she saved was spent gathering things for her nest. She dredged up sand from the bottom of the lagoon, filling her maw and depositing it at the edge of the beach. The nest needed to be built at just the right height, so that high tide would cover it and low tide would provide a gentle lapping against the eggs. It had taken more time than she thought it would to get the positioning just right, deciding to move the entire design further down the beach than she originally planned. It was exhausting and time consuming to haul all of the wet sand and harvested kelp a mile or so away. She only had until the full moon though, so she pushed herself to get it done. 

Anarka woke groaning and tensing her shoulders. The middle of her body felt like it was on fire. Opening her outer lids, she blinked heavily into the darkness, before opening her inner lids as well in an attempt to see. The additional clarity helped reveal the space around her had a golden glow, even though it was dark and cool. She lashed her tail in agitation, the pain enough to make her want to tear into and take on even the squids of the deep. The splash and thump of her tail at the water's surface confused her for a second, before a disgruntled rumble followed after. The darkness around her shifted, letting in blinding sunlight, causing both sets of lids to snap shut. 

The sand beneath her shifted, and her body rolled back before she flailed out an arm to catch herself. She wasn’t used to the feel of gravity and she slumped over awkwardly before she was able to correct her position. Anarka managed to pry her eyes open against the brightness and was greeted with the vision of darkness, before sand splattered across her face.    
  
Letting out a screech in frustration, she flapped her fin wings and lashed her tail again. When she was able to open her eyes once more, the darkness took shape. 

“You,” she hissed.    
  
The male from the other side of the island was stretching. Long lean muscles were pulled taunt before being released. He straightened out his wings, flaring the membrane as wide as he could, before tucking them back up to his side. He turned to face her, a giant yawn spreading his jaws wide, before shaking his head and neck out.    
  
“Me,” he rumbled in return, blue eyes bright against the black of his scales. Morning light was glancing off his form, highlighting his features in a dazzling purple. There was still sand packed into the fur at his side and deep within his chest fluff. He’d been asleep on the beach next to her. Shielding her body with his wings-- that’s what the dark golden light had been caused by. The male had slept out in the open, unprotected… to shield her. It took her only moments to piece it all together. To realize she had passed out during high tide on the beach, but when the water had receded her form had been revealed. 

He’d kept her from becoming truly burned by the sun. Shifting uncomfortably from the kindness he had shown, she slid her eyes away. 

“Thank you,” she huffed, before hauling herself back into the cool salty relief. 

“Name’s Jagged, Pearl,” his deep voice stilled her movements, temporarily catching her off guard with its richness. Almost as beautiful as one of her own kind-- and yet he yowled near every morning. 

“I did not ask for yer name,” and before he could respond, she sank into the water. 

His kindness nagged at her. It wasn’t that she had expected him to be cruel. He clearly wasn’t. A buffoon perhaps, but he definitely wasn’t malicious. But he had gone out of his way to help her. He hadn’t just  _ helped _ her though, he had put himself at a disadvantage. The chances of humans, or a similar threat, coming upon them was low, but it was always a possibility. 

With a frustrated scream, which scared the few schools of fish who had begun to move in to hover near her sides, she decided a thank you was in order, if only to make them even.    


It took far longer than it should have to catch something worthy of a gift. Eventually, she snagged a juvenile shark. She kept its tail tight between her teeth as she made her way back to the island. She didn’t want it trailing blood and drawing in predators. The last thing Anarka needed near her nesting lagoon were more threats. 

She let the shark free from her maw before snagging it with a claw when she arrived at Jagged’s cliff. It only took a few calls before he appeared from somewhere over the edge. His wings snapped open, impressively fanning out, when he leapt, gliding down to the large rocks beneath his cave. With a flick the shark sailed through the air, smacking into the boulders. It immediately began to squirm, attempting to return to the sea, and she watched as it nearly made it. The male stood there gaping, as if he’d never seen such a creature before, nor what he was supposed to do with it. 

The fish managed to flop it’s way back into the waves, tail thrashing rapidly to get away, but she was far faster. Teeth sank deeply into its head, jaws snapping down to crunch into the dense cartilage. With a snap of her neck, the shark was flying through the air again, and this time when it smashed into the rocks it didn’t try to get away. Bright red stained the sun bleached stones, the tang of blood heavy.    
  
She waited until he went to investigate, gaze returning to lock with hers, before he dipped his head in thanks. His mouth was full, shark hanging limply out the side, wings open as he prepared to launch into the air, haunches coiled when she spoke up--   
  
“Anarka,” and true to form she dived back into the sea, tail splashing water across him, before he was able to respond. 

Her song was sung late into the dark that night, and at the moonrise the following evening she sang above the waves. It was a melody old as time. Similar in design to the voices of sirens above the water, beautiful and luring, but without the dark demise the sirens were known for. It wasn’t until just shy of a week before the full moon that her call was answered. A matching song to her own.    
  
Anarka moved to the entrance of her lagoon, stretching her long neck out of the sea, flaring her headdress in what she assumed was appealing. Fin wings held aloft so the dying sunlight reflected off her silver scales, leaving her awash in a pearlescent gleam. She shimmered with enough color to rival even the abalone shells she used to gather as a hatchling. A pale green head rose above the surface, horned headdress long and impressive. The bellow the male sent out though, not so much. Below the sea the voice had been compatible enough, but above the waves… 

There wasn’t much time to be picky though. She had less than a week before she would lay her eggs, fertilized or not. If she didn’t mate this time, it would be another decade before she got the chance. The possibility of attracting another male in time felt unlikely.    
  
The sea drake came closer, beginning to twist and display a dance to attract her attention, green scales becoming awash with the fading sun, leaving him a sickly color.    
  
Before she could turn to respond in her own display, the sky churned, dark clouds rolling in suddenly. A deep piercing roar rent the sky, the very waves trembling from the force. She watched as a dark form streaked through the air above her, bright yellow wings snapping in time with the strike of lightning. The rocking of the sea made her tuck her wings in closer once more, though the lagoon itself felt calm in comparison to the open water. Another deafening boom filled the sky, the impact tossing the sea male roughly. A high-pitched screech responded, green headdress flaring, horns slashing the sky-- but Jagged let loose a stream of fire in answer. Blue blasted out, nearly licking the sides of her caller. She watched as the male dipped beneath the sea, before a boiling stream of water hurled through the air, hissing as it disappeared into mist.    
  
The water cannon had been strong and aimed perfectly, but Jagged had been prepared, flipping rapidly in the sky, before circling back. He let loose another boom from his maw, causing her to coil back into herself to avoid as much of the impact as possible. Wings flashed through the air again, before Jagged descended onto the rocks at the entrance of her pool. His back was to her, wings flared to their very limit, tail lashing as he stood between them. Fire burst from his snout again in warning.    
  
The sea dragon screeched once more in anger before he disappeared beneath the waves. She waited to see if he would resurface, to continue the fight, but he didn’t. Jagged paced the boulders for some time, breaking out into threatening displays anytime the waves crashed higher up onto the rocks then it had previously. It wasn’t until the winds died down and the dark clouds began to thin, revealing pale moonlight, that he seemed to calm down.    
  
“What in the bloody hell is wrong with ya?!” she called out, fins slapping the surface of the water to get his attention. Bright blue eyes swivelled to her, his black head shaking roughly in answer. Then he made a few jumps along the rocks before launching into the sky. 

_ What the bloody hell? _ It was if he had been acting territorial… over her? That just didn’t make any sense. In what dry-brained mind was that even remotely sensible? Who would be interested in a  _ land _ dragon of all beings?    
  
Anarka was woken early the next morning, sky blushing to the east, local fauna stirring. A song was drifting on the early morning breeze, barely audible just beneath the surface. The hummed melody was unmistakable. It was half of a whole.    
  
A small puff of air sprayed water from her nostrils as she lifted the end of her snout free of the water, scenting the air, before raising her long neck into the day. The song was clear, tune crisp but full. The notes ran invisible fingers down her scales, tantalizing and  _ electric _ . It woke things in her that had been dormant, slumbering, waiting. Her spine tingled, her fin wings shaking and snapping to dispel the extra energy, but it couldn’t stop the warmth that filled her belly. At the glow that swelled within. Her body had chosen who would father her eggs.    
  
She sent a single long note into the sky, straining her sea vocals to maintain a beautiful hymn, even if it wasn’t her natural element. 

A booming roar answered, filling the sky and sending the birds on the island into flight. He continued the song as he flew over the land and trees, the song fuller and less hesitant as he neared. He may have grown confident, assured, but her nerves lashed from her tail. 

_ A land whale _ ? Was she crazy? Probably. She’d never heard of the pairing in her time at sea, but then again, she hadn’t made it to the ends of the Earth  _ yet _ . Her kind didn’t have mates like his did. They didn’t choose a partner to keep until the end of their days. They bonded in their life with a partner purely for procreating, or traveling pods. 

That’s why they sang. The ancient melody woke the connection for her kind, it let them know who they were meant to pair with. It was never wrong.    
  
And it had chosen the overgrown lizard.

Jagged alighted on the beach nearest her, sand skittering away from him. He was magnificent in the early morning light, though not the impressive figure he had struck last night in the storm. His wings tilted straight up, fluttered then tucked to his sides. He twisted his neck to bow to her, before settling onto his stomach, limbs tucked in. 

“I see ya were listenin’,” she flattened her own headdress and wings, paddling closer to the shallows.   
  
“I’ve an ear for music, what can I say?” the closest thing to a human smirk crossed his face. She sank into the wet sand, water lapping at her shoulders. The warmth in her belly was soft but consistent. The closer she had swam, the more it had pulsed in confirmation. It filled her with  _ want _ . A desire to pair with the male before her, no matter how irritating he could be. How loud and overly sure of himself. How flashy and eye catching. How  _ powerful _ he truly could be. How beautifully he sang.    


She sighed to herself, frustrated at how he had somehow wormed his way into her attention. 

“Do ya know why I’m here?” Anarka flicked her inner eyelids back to be able to hold his gaze.   
  
“Aye, that I do, Pearl,” a dark clawed hand ran through his chest hair, leaving it ruffled and yet somehow fitting. 

Silence settled over them for some time. The rhythm of the waves soothing, the birds returning and singing their own songs, the breeze in the palm leaves. A rumbled humm came from his throat, it was catchy, if not strange, but it drew her in. Pulled a melody from her in response, which only seemed to increase the volume of his. Soon he was thrashing his tail, then fluttering his wings, before he was prancing around the beach as if he was on stage, belting out garbled sounds she didn’t understand. 

“I can’t say human words in this form,” he answered when he saw her tilted head in confusion, slowing his flamboyant and chaotic display.    
  
“Human?” The thought alone threw her for a loop.   
  
“Aye, human. I’ve travelled the lands in their skin,” water splashed around his legs as he walked towards her, standing in the shallows.   
  
“Ya wore their skin? Ya’ve changed before?” the question stumbling out of her.    
  
“Many times,” he laughed, loud and bright, then made his way out of the water. His form rippled, then a human man stood where Jagged had once been. Long black hair curled up at the ends, sharper features carved his face, fragile  _ skin _ covered him. Familiar blue eyes gazed at her, pulled up in a smile. “I’ve enjoyed  _ all _ the finer things this shape has to offer,” an eyebrow wiggle accompanied it before he smirked. Any enchantment she had with his transformation died there, and she scowled, tail sloshing water at him. He sputtered, causing her to laugh-- an odd barking sound above water. He joined in, hand wrapping around his middle.    
  
“I’ve never changed before,” Anarka added once the laughter had died down.    
  
“Ah, you haven’t lived until you’ve performed in front of hundreds of people before. All wild and dancing because of  _ you _ ,” Jagged sighed wistfully. “Plus, they’re easier to come by than my own kind.”    
  
The words rolled around in her head for a while before she responded, she understood the common tongue, but it took some time to sort through them, “Ya collect people.”   
  
“Aye, in a way,” Jagged walked back into the water towards her, just as sure on two feet as he had been on all fours. “You’re beautiful. I could write songs about you for centuries.” Anarka lifted her headdress at the compliment. As he came closer, water splashing around his bare legs, she shifted her forearm out and pushed him. He tumbled onto his rear, head dipping beneath the waves for a moment. He came up sputtering. 

Then he truly surprised her and dived back in, his form gliding just beneath the surface, reappearing near her tail. Both sets of eyelids blinked in surprise.   
  
“Ya can swim?!” 

He tugged on her tail, but she yanked it from his hands easily. Twisting her body, she reached out her snout before he could grasp her again and bumped him in the chest. Jagged sank, her thoughts turning to worry momentarily, before he shot to the surface again, flinging his hair back and splattering her face. She growled in response.

“Oh come on you sea cow,” he laughed, arm flinging more water at her.   
  
_ Sea cow? _ she let out another growl, before sipping from the sea and squirting him in the face. He swam away before she could reach out and snap at him. She trailed him slowly, squirting him when he was too far, nipping his legs when he dived. He collapsed on the beach exhausted some time later, the sun taking a dip towards late afternoon. When he patted the sand beside him, she sank further into the water.    
  
“Come, my pearl. Try it,” he crooned, body shifting onto his elbow. She shook her head in irritation, water droplets flying off like small crystals. He flopped back against the sand. 

It wasn’t going to happen, she wasn’t going to transform. Twisting in the waters she headed towards her nest, muzzle inspecting things closely, her hands reshaping places that weren’t  _ just so _ .  _ Human _ . Who would willingly give up this form to walk on land with only  _ two _ legs? Her core warmed once more, lower belly heavy, as she continued to adjust the nest. She lashed her tail in anger as thoughts rolled around in her mind. She wasn’t an idle thinker, she was a do-er, and she wasn’t  _ doing _ anything.    
  
Words floated towards her. A soft sound, hummed gently into the evening. It was a language she didn’t know, no longer common tongue. It was beautiful though. When he sang, calm and collected, he sang with his soul. It was that deep mesmerizing tone that reached out and stroked her. Ethereal richness stoking an inner fire. 

Jagged sang, flowing between different songs effortlessly, as if they were all combined. The breeze over the sands shifted, delicate twirls syncing with the notes he formed. She felt it pick up, before caressing her scales, filling the space beneath her fin wings. He had a way of reaching her that she couldn’t put into words.    


Words weren’t needed though, were they? Bodies were. A flush of desire swept through her, settling in her core once more. She turned to watch him, human body stretched out in the dying light, arms behind his head, one knee propped up hiding a very human male anatomy. 

She couldn’t mate with him in her true form. By air or land he couldn’t sink beneath the waves and twine with her, writhe against the sea bed for hours. Her body demanded him, there would be no one else, even if others lined up. A dull throb set a rhythm within her, a drive to copulate, to pair, to feel filled and held. In order to do that… she needed to change. 

No sooner had the thought officially become the plan then she was searching within to figure out just  _ how _ to do it. Patience wasn’t something she was known for. 

It took longer than she cared to admit, to find that inner magic needed to transform. Slowly, slowly it over took her. Long lean neck shortened, her snout and fangs receding in tandem. Wing fins fluttered into nothing, taking her tail with it. Her headdress flattened and shimmered, creating a cascade of long silver hair that hung to her hips, floating in the water at her sides. Then she was kneeling in the waves on knees and hands. Anarka stayed crouched, steadying her breathing, trying to come to terms with the  _ lack _ of things. It wasn’t until she realized Jagged was no longer singing, that she peered up. A look of shock colored his face, shortly before he was moving, making his way towards her. 

“Ah, Pearl, look at you,” his voice was full of warmth as he reached out for her, waiting for her to take his hand. His grip on her fingers was tight when she grasped him, it was with unexpected strength that he helped pull her up onto trembling legs. Legs that wobbled and shook as they tried to support her. Heavy. She felt so heavy. He was steady in his grip. He led her one shaky step after the other until she was standing in the dry shifting sand. 

“I’m never doin' this again,” she groused, his laughter filled the air around them.    
  
“Ah, but there’s so many things I want to show you,” a long arm slipped around her waist, guiding her further onto the beach. He sat her down nestled into a small dune, before leaving to collect kindling, then shifted enough to spew fire. A warm flickering flame ate the dry palm leaves and sticks quickly. Fire. It was a feeling she’d never experienced. The warmth it seeped into her bones, instead of a sizzling in her skin. He sat beside her afterwards, casually leaned back on his elbows, feet towards the flames. A tug on her headdress-- hair-- had her shifting to look at him. He was winding a silver curl around his fingers, marveling at it.    
  
The feeling was soothing, it sent calming waves through her, eyelids fluttering. Gingerly she lowered herself onto her back, wiggling until the sand cradled her like a nestling. Jagged’s fingers continued to play with her hair, and she wondered how she had never allowed herself to feel this before. A tentative brushing behind her ear, and she turned towards him. He slowly rose onto an elbow, gazing down at her, striking blue eyes soft. He began humming as he reached out to trace the other side of her face, then let his fingers glide down the smooth column of her neck. The feeling that coursed through her was foreign, but incredibly demanding. He drew small circles in the dip of her shoulder, melody changing into the ancient hymn of her people. 

With effort she hummed back. The song wasn’t as beautiful in this form, but just as powerful. The warm glow at her core pulsed, a sensation rushing between her legs. Jagged leaned over her slowly, searching her face as he came closer. It wasn’t until his lips were pressed to hers, forming before pulling away that she realized she had closed her eyes and held her breath.    
  
“It’s called a kiss,” he chuckled, hand trailing down her arm to capture her fingers. “It’s a human thing… but it feels good.” He brought her pale hand up to his cheek, brushing her knuckles over his skin. “You smell of the sea.”

“Ya smell like the sea before a storm,” a smile broke over his face.   
  
“Perhaps I went a little crazy yesterday,” his eyes locked with hers again, that electric pulse striking through her. “But I got it into my head that I had to try and make a claim.”   
  
“Ya cannot own me,” she added, a bit tersely. “My kind do not have mates.”   
  
That crooked smile crossed his face, “Aye, I know. But… still I had to try.” 

“I’m glad ya did,” Anarka added, if somewhat begrudgingly.

“Mmm,” was all he responded with, before he lowered himself to her again, pausing to make sure she wouldn’t push him away before taking her lips with his own. He led her in a dance, one where she didn’t know the steps, but caught on quickly-- eager to learn. He traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue, begging for entrance, and she obliged. She found her hand tight in his hair, leg tangled with his, and arms tight to his body when she paused to breathe. She ached for more. Ached for the hand that skimmed her skin to her hip to travel further, wanted teeth to bite at her, even if they weren’t fangs. 

She couldn’t tell if it was the sway of the moon or his hips that made her yearn, but she did. Jagged knew his way around the human body, and he made her feel things she knew she would likely never feel again. Knew she would never wrap human legs around a males body, grinding herself into them, again. His mouth was hot on her neck and any skin he could reach, hands explored places, waking nerves she was still learning she had.

It was when she was shaking, vocals raw from screaming and utterly spent that she was able to shift her face from him. She breathed the air like it was the sea, shoving at his sweat soaked body so that she could let the breeze cool her overheated skin. Sand stuck in places she wished it hadn’t, scraping her flesh uncomfortably, but she still breathed heavily, uncaring. 

The moon was high when she opened her eyes, the night serene, waves gently tickling her feet at high tide.  _ Feet _ . With an inhuman groan she rolled to her side, before forcing herself to unsteady feet to move into the waves. To let the water course around her unfamiliar form. It washed the sand from her and renewed her. Swimming was different, but natural. She played in the dark sea, pretending she didn’t know that his eyes were on her. Pretending that she didn’t twist and flaunt her body in ways that enticed him to come out and play with her. 

And when he did, she wasted little time. Her legs found his hips once more, securing herself to him, hands gripping his shoulders as he let his own wander along her backside. He was hard against her, and then in her faster than she thought he could. But she set into a rhythm quickly, feeling light weight and at home in the water. She let her head tip back so the moon could caress her face while his lips danced across her neck, then nipped at her shoulder.    
  
Alive. Alive. Alive.

That’s what she felt, even when they washed ashore exhausted beyond measure, a tangle of limbs.    
  
She laid her eggs two evenings later at the rise of the full moon, it’s bright silver rays bathing her few precious orbs in its light. The reflection from her own scales had the small nest pool aglow.   
  
“More beautiful than the finest treasures, my Pearl,” the grumbled voice high up on the rocks filled her with pride. They were beautiful.    
  
She found herself running on instinct alone the next few days, becoming aware often just after having killed something for a meal more viciously then she needed, or flaring her headdress at the gentlest of shifts in the currents. It only became more apparent as the time passed. 

Jagged brought odd pieces he found amusing to set about her nest, just out of reach of the waters at high tide, or even small game, but he stopped lingering the more aggressive she became. 

When she had launched out of the water at a dark hulking shape wrapped around her nest, nearly taking half his face off, she decided it was best to send him off. It was in his instincts to protect her and their clutch, care for them until his dying breath. But that wasn’t how it worked for her kind. The males didn’t stay. They didn’t linger. They didn’t help. Because female sea dragons had one focus, and only one. To ensure her hatchlings survived. That meant that anything that came remotely close  _ didn’t _ .    
  
“I’m only leaving because you want me too,” his voice was low and disheartened, the fresh gouge in his face still bleeding. She had seen him as a threat, and not the protective barrier he was trying to be.   
  
“I know,” subconsciously she was fiddling with the sand around the nest, moving some of the things Jagged had brought until they satisfied her. “I cannot guarantee that I won’t attack ya again. It’s not the way of my people.” She watched as a trail of smoke filtered from his snout.   
  
“I’ll stay out of the way,” wings shifted as he prepared to launch into the sky. 

“It’s time to keep followin' yer calling,” she lifted blue eyes to his, matching his gaze, until he turned his away, features hardening.    
  
“Soon. I’ll be on the island until they can leave the lagoon. I may not be needed, Pearl, but they’re still mine to protect.” “Then ya can be there for them when they’re older. Get out of here ya overgrown lizard,” but her insult held nothing but fondness as she watched him fly off.    
  
  



End file.
